Master distiller Fred Noe will be a guest at “Rare Bourbon for Rare Disease.”

For those who love the thrill of getting to taste a highly sought-after bourbon, Saturday night’s “Rare Bourbon for Rare Disease” fundraiser at Haymarket Whiskey Bar should not be missed. But more interesting even than the rare bourbons that’ll be featured is how the event came about.

Five regional bourbon societies decided to band together for one important cause — to help raise funds for 5-year-old Kentuckian Katherine Belle and her extremely rare mitochondrial disease caused by mutations in the NUBPL gene. All proceeds raised will go to the NUBPL Foundation, which is funding research on the disease that causes progressive atrophy of the cerebellum in children and affects motor skills, speech and other developmental abilities.

Katherine Belle | Courtesy of Hope for Katherine Belle

Members from the Louisville, Paducah, Owensboro and Lexington Bourbon Societies and JB’s Whiskey House of Nashville have joined forces with Haymarket to sponsor the event and offer three tiers of tickets that’ll feature very rare flights bourbons.

Two of the upper tiers are already sold out, but there are still tickets available at the $50 range that include a bottle of Knob Creek Single Barrel Private Selection. There also will be a silent auction featuring E.H. Taylor Tornado, 2012 Angel’s Envy Cask Strength and several Pappys, among many others.

Jim Beam master distiller Fred Noe will be on hand as well, from 7-8:30 p.m., to sign your bottles of Knob Creek.

Tickets are going fast, so be sure to reserve yours before they’re gone. The event runs from 7-10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Haymarket is located at 331 E. Market St.